The Coalition has announced it will introduce legislation requiring more retailers to accept cash, including chemists, hardware stores, department stores, restaurants and fast-food chains.
What's happening
Shadow Minister for Financial Services Kevin Hogan and Mallee MP Anne Webster announced the Cash is King Bill 2026 on Monday, saying it would be introduced this week. The Coalition says Australia has no general right to pay in cash at the point of sale. Labor's cash mandate, which began on 1 January 2026, requires fuel and grocery retailers to accept cash for in-person transactions of $500 or less between 7am and 9pm.
The bill would lift that limit to $2,000, remove the 7am to 9pm window, extend the rules to more kinds of shops, and require Commonwealth agencies to accept cash for eligible over-the-counter payments. Businesses with turnover under $10 million would be exempt, though franchisees trading under major brands would still be covered. Businesses facing a genuine safety risk could also seek an exemption, with the ACCC helping assess claims. The Coalition estimates the bill would cover more than 80 per cent of face-to-face retail transactions while applying to about 3 per cent of businesses.
Who it affects
For shoppers, Mr Hogan says about 1.5 million Australians rely on cash for most of what they buy, and that cash keeps working when networks fail, pointing to flooding in the Northern Rivers. Cash also carries no card surcharge, which he says makes it a check on payment costs. Card surcharges have been banned since 1 October.
For businesses, handling cash has a cost. RMIT professor of finance Angel Zhong told SmartCompany that counting, transporting, insuring and securing cash all add to operating expenses. “If you broaden the cash mandate, there will be an increase in cost,” she said, noting larger retailers are better placed to absorb it. Mr Hogan said small businesses were exempted for that reason: “Of course handling cash comes with costs, particularly for small businesses.”
What it means for you
Right now the cash rules cover fuel and grocery purchases up to $500. If the bill passes, more shops would have to take notes and coins, for amounts up to $2,000, at any hour. It is an opposition bill and needs parliamentary support to become law, so nothing changes at the counter yet.
Zhong also questions whether a mandate would shift behaviour: she says she does not expect cash use to rise dramatically, and that requiring shops to accept cash does not make it easier to get cash where branches and ATMs have closed. The government is pursuing its own cash reforms. Nothing in this proposal changes the surcharge rules that began on 1 October.
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